Aircraft hangar door



Sept. 17, .1963 F. L. KITLEY AIRCRAFT HANGAR DOOR Filed May 29, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 17, 1963 F. L. KlTLEY 3,103,969

AIRCRAFT HANGAR DooR l Filed May 29, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /32 54 Fred L. laf/ey il), 400 INVENTOR. j l1. 'l BY @Mm L1 ,W0 d/WH Mm F. L.. KITLEY AIRCRAFT HANGAR DOOR sept. 17, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 29, 1959 Hed L. IGI/ey INVENTozg.

BY d/W Mm United States Patent 3,103,969 AHtCRAFT HANGAR DUUR Fred lL. Ktiey, Flora, Ill., assigner, by direct and mesne assignments, to Foldomatic Door Company, incorporated Filed May 29, 1959, Ser. No. 316,920 6 Claims. (Cl. Mtl-193) This invention comprises -a novel and useful aircraft hangar door and more particularly relates to a large multi-section folding door lof the type particularly adapted for use in closing the entrance to aircraft hangars and other buildings of commensurate size.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a door construction of a size and type yadapted lfor closing the entrances of aircraft hangars and similar buildings `and whch shall have a sturdy, simplified improved construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a multisection door in 'accordance with the preceding object together with improved power operating means -for eliecting vertical travel of the door between a raised open position and a lowered closed position.

A further object of the invention is to provide yan improved multi-section door in accordance with the preceding objects wherein the power operating means for the same may be advantageously located in a box-type truss disposed across the top of the door opening.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved multi-section door in accordance with the foregoing objects which shall incorporate therein improved hinge means for tixedly mounting the upper end of the door for swinging movement about Ia horizontal axis `and shall lboth pivotally and slidably mount the mid-portion of the door.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide `an improved multi-section door in accordance with the above-mentioned objects wherein the lower end of the door shall be provided with an improved guide means for ret-aining the same for travel 'along a vertical line.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved cable operated means for effecting opening and closing movement of a door and which shall equalize the lifting forces applied across the width of the door thereby facilitating the raising and lowering of doors especially of large size.

rIhese together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the etails of construction Vand operation as more fully hereinafter described land claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, where-in like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and :in which:

FIGURE l is an elevational view showing the iront of an aircraft hangar door constructed in accordance with this invention, the door being shown in closed position and parts Ibeing broken away to show certain structural details of the door and certain details of the mounting and positioning of the door operating mechanism;

FIGURE 2 is la vertical transverse sectional View taken substantially upon the plane indicated by section line 2 2 of FIGURE l and showing in full lines the door in its lowered or closed position and in dotted lines in its raised or open position;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional View taken substantially upon the plane indicated lby section line 3 3 of FIGURE l and showing in particular the arrangement and disposition o-f the cable operating mechanism for raising the door;

FIGURE 4 is a detail view in horizontal transverse section taken substantially upon the plane indicated by "ice Z section line @-4 of FIGURE l and showing in particular the manner of detachably joining together individual frames comprising 'components of the framework of the multi-section door of this invention;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary detail view in perspective of the upper hinge by which the upper section of the door is mounted;

FIGURE 6 is .a detail perspective view, part being broken away, of the intermediate hinge by which the upper `and lower sections of the door are joined together;

FIGURE 7 is a detail perspective view of the bottom rail or `cross member of the door;

FIGURE 8 is la perspective view of one of the door guide roller and bracket members;

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view partially broken away, of `a sliding sheave `box forming a part of the cable operated mechanism for the door;

FIGURE l() is a perspective view of la sheave land its mounting bracket forming ya part of the operating mechanism' of the door; `and FIGURE ll .is a diagrammatic view of the cable operating mechanism for the door.

In the laccompanying drawings there is `a shown a door construction including a door frame indicated generally by the numeral lil together with a door therefor designated generally by the numeral I2. The principles of this invention iare concerned with the door construction of an extremely large size such as a door adapted to iconstitute Ia closure for such large openings `as the door of an aircraft hangar, large warehouses or workshops and the like. Doors of this ychar-actor are both extremely wide as well as extremely high and owing to their size and weight require power operating Imeans for effecting `the opening `and closing movement of the doors. In addition, such doors lare usually multi-section doors in order that they may fold land thus be disposed in a small cornpass when folded into their open position.

It is with a door of this character and type that the present invention is primarily concerned and the frame 10 includes suitable later-ally spaced vertical supports 14 which constitute the sides of the door trarne together with la box-like truss member indicated generally vby the numeral I6 and which constitutes the top of the door opening and which is secured to the upper ends of the side supports I4. The box-truss member i6 is utilized not only `as a means for rigidifying the large open yframe of the door ibut also is fa means for supporting and housing the door operating mechanism to be subsequently set forth.

Refer-ring now especially to FIGURE 2 it will be observed that the building equipped with the door includes a floor or apron i8 of concrete or other material upon which the lower or bottom end or the door I2 is adapted to abut in the closed position of the door, together with a roof structure as at 2d which overlies the top box truss member 16.

Referring again primarily to FIGURE 1 it will be ,ob-served that the door includes an upper section 22 to which is hinged .a lower section 24 by means of a horizontally extending piano-type hinge 26 extending across the entire width of the door. The hinge 26 is -an intermediate liinge and in addition to securing the upper `and lower sections of the door together for vertical movement also serves yas Va pivot whereby the adjacent edges of the two sections may be swung outwardly or laterally as the bottom edge of the door is lifted, as will ibe readily apparent from a consideration of the dotted line showing of FIGURE 2.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the upper end of the upper section 22 of the door is secured as by a supporting hinge 2% to the upper box truss member 16.

rIlhe arrangement :of the upper hinge yand the intermediate hinge with the two door sections is such that as an upward lifting force is applied to the bottom edge of the lower section, the latter will move upwardly, being retained and `guided into vertically extending guide track as set yforth hereinafter, while the intermediate ends will swing outwardly. When the lower edge of the lower section approaches the upper hinge, as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2, the intermediate hinge will be disposed at its maximum distance outwardly iand the two door sections will assume `a substantially horizontal position, thereby making available the full height of the door opening through the door frame.

Referring again to FIGURE 1 it will be -observed that both the upper and lower sections of the door, 22 and 24, are each formed of a plurality of `generally rectangular frames each designated `generally by the numeral 30. Each frame consists of a plurality of longitudinally extending -anigle iron members 32, see also FIGURE 4, which are rigidly connected at their corners and braced as by diagonal braces 34 while adjacent sides of adjacent frames are detachably but rigidly secured together as by fastening bolts 36 extending through abutting flanges of the angle iron members. Thus, from a given size of frame, a door 12 may be constructed of any desired height and width as may be found necessary, thus enabling a relatively few standard components to be stocked from which doors of varying dimensions can be readily constructed and fabricated. This also contributes to the ease of assembling and disassembling the door as well as its transportation and storage.

When the frames are assembled into the upper and lower sections, these are preferably covered with a skin 38 of suitable material such as sheet metal or the like, secured to the frame in any desired manner. Thus the multi-sectioned door is readily Ifabricated of inexpensive and generally lightweight materials with a minimum expenditure of labor.

Reference is now made especially to FIGURE 7 in conjunction with FIGURE 2 wherein it will be observed that the lower edge of the lower section of the door has a bottom rail 40 which preferably comprises a girder of the box-type and which is secured to and is disposed beneath the bottom angle iron member 32 of the lowermost row :of frames 30 of the lower door section 24. It will be `observed from FIGURE l together with FIGURE 1l that the bottom rail 40 of the door extends across the entire width of the same and has connected thereto the cable of the lifting mechanism by which the door is raised and to be described hereinafter. It will be seen from FIGURE 7 that upon the inside surface of the door, there are provided a plurality of pairs of inwardly projecting sets of apertured ears 42 to which are secured as by pivot pins 44 the clevises 46 at the lower end of the lifting cables 48. As will be observed from FIGURE 11, the lifting cables 4S are spaced at uniform distances across the width of the bottom rail and the door in order to distribute the lifting thrust equally across the width of the door.

Secured to one of the faces of the bottom rail 40 `at the opposite ends of the same are a pair of brackets, shown best at 50 in FIGURE 8, and which serve to journal the `axles 52. The outer ends of these axles carry guide rollers 54 thereon which project outwardly beyond the ends of the bottom rail 40 and as shown in FIGURE 1 and suggested in FIGURE 2 roll upon the forward or front surface of the vertical side supports 14. Thus the lower end of the door is held `against the `guiding tracks formed by the surfaces of the supports 14 during the upward and downward movement of the door section, it being observed that the weight of the door sections as the intermediate hinge 26 moves outwardly `during such movement presses the guide rollers against their guide tracks.

Referring next to FIGURE 6 in conjunction with FIGURE 2, it will be observed that the intermediate hinge 26 comprises a pair of angle iron members 56 and 58 which are suitably secured as by bolts to the adjacent lower and upper horizontal angle iron members at the bottom and top edges :of the upper `and lower door sections respectively, and which" are welded to alternate sleeves 60 which are rotatably journalled upon an axle or pipe 62. lThus the angle iron members 56 and 58, Iwelded to different sets of sleeves are rotatably mounted upon the pipe 62 for relatively pivotal movement with respect to each other.

Reference is made next to FIGURE 5 in conjunction with FIGURE 2 wherein it will be seen that the upper hinge 28 is of similar construction. The hinge 28 likewise includes a pair of angle iron members 64 and 66 which are welded to separate sets of alternate sleeves 63 and 70 journalled upon a shaft `or pipe 72 for pivoting movement thereon. The angle iron member 64 is secured to the upper frame member 32 of the upper panel and a clamping bracket 74 is welded to the sleeve 68 as at 76 and is clamped to the door angle members 32 as by the fastening bolt 78, The angle member 66 is secured to the upper truss member 16.

It will thus be observed that the upper hinge extends longitudinally across the entire upper edge of the upper section of the door and pivotally secures the same to the top box truss member 16 for swinging movement.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 3 and 11 in particular, it will be understood that the top box truss member 16 serves to support and house the power operating means by which the door is lifted or raised. For this purpose a horizontal platform or shelf 80 is mounted in the box girder or truss member 16 at one end thereof and serves as a support upon -which is mounted a power operating means such as an electric motor 82 operatively connected as by a belt or chain S4 to a winch 86. The motor is provided with a gear reduction assembly indicated generally by the numeral 88 by which rotation is imparted to the chain or belt 84, and a manually operated shaft 90 projects from the gear reduction assembly has entrained thereover a manually operated sprocket chain 92 thereby enabling the winch to be operated manually in the event that the source of power to the motor 82 should fail. It will be understood that for this purpose the gear reduction assembly 8S is of any well-known type whereby power may be applied independently either by the motor 82 or by the manually operated shaft 90 in order to impart rotation through the gear reduction assembly through the driving chain 84.

The winch is provided with an operating cable 94 which as shown best in FIGURE 11 is passed over a guide pulley 96 journalled upon a stationary horizontal axle 98, is then passed about the upper guide pulley 100 on the vertical axle 102, see also FIGURE 9, carried by the sliding sheave box 104, is then passed over the guide pulley 106 carried by the stationarily mounted vertical axle 108, is then passed over the lower 'guide pulley 110 carried by the axle 102 of the sheave box and finally has its end anchored as at 112 in any suitable manner.

The sheave box 104, as shown in FIGURE 9, is slidably carried by a pair of channel members 114 which form a part of or are mounted upon the top box truss member 16 previously mentioned.

It will thus be apparent that when the winch reels in the cable 94, the latter due to the previously described pulley arrangement will impart horizontal sliding movement towards the right of the sliding or traveling sheave box 104.

The sliding or traveling sheave box 104 in turn is connected to the cables 48 for lifting the bottom rail and thus the folding door. For this purpose bolts 116 are secured in one end of the traveling sheave box and each `of the previously mentioned lifting cables 48 is secured to one of these bolts. The lifting cables 48 in turn are entrained over sets of idler pulleys 118, 120, and 122 carried by the stationarily mounted vertical axles 124, 126 and 128. From thence the cables are passed over further idler pulleys 130, 132, 134 and 136 carried by stationary horizontal axles 138, 141i, 142 and 144. Also, it will be -apparent that all of the pulleys are lixedly mounted either on the frame or the sliding box to avoid any yieldabi-lity or unconstrained movement of the parts that may otherwise produce vibration.

It will be observed that each of the horizontal axles 138, 140, 142 and 144 are identical, and thus one of these axles such Ias the axle 138` as shown in FIGURE l0, 'and having the idler pulley 136 mounted thereon is carried by a pair of brackets as at 1511 and 152 so that the axle may be secured to and disposed transversely of the top box truss member 16 as suggested in FIGURES 1 and 3.

It is believed that the operation Iof the door lifting mechanism will now be readily understood. When it is desired to lift the door, the reduction gear assembly is actuated either manually by the chain 92 or by actuating the moto-r 82, and in turn through the chain or belt 34 drives the winch 86. The latter winds up the iixedly anchored lactuating cable 94 causing movement of the travelling or sliding sheave box 164 away lfrom the winch and towards the anchored end of the cable at 112. This movement of the travelling box in turn tensions the four cables 48 anchored to the sliding box 104 to simultaneously lift the bottom rail, the system utilizing a single lixed anchor 112. As the latter slides upwardly with its guide rollers 54 rolling against the ianged surface of the vertical support members 14, the intermediate hinge of the door will swing outwardly causing the two door sections to swing outwardly until the door is in its raised position shown in FIGURE 2.

Usually, the weight of the door will be sutlicient to cause the same to return itself to lits lowered position when the pull of the motor 82 is released. If desired spring means may be employed to assist in its return movement.

In some instances it may be desired to have the motor positively raise and lower the door and it will be understood that if desired suitable brake lmeans may be applied to the winch to maintain the `door in its open position. However, since the principles of the invention claimed herein do not depend upon any particular construction for controlling the operation of the winch, and since various constructions could be readily employed for this purpose, a further description `of the same is deemed to be unnecessary.

The Kforegoing is considered as illustrative only of the lprinciples of the invention. Further, since numerous lmodifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention ias claimed.

What is claimed as new is as lfollows:

l. A folding door construction comprising a door frame including vertical side supports and a top cross member secured to the upper ends of said side supports, a door vertically movable along said side supports, `operating means nor causing vertical movement of said door, said door comprising upper and lower sections, an upper hinge pivotally supporting the upper end of said upper section for swinging movement about a stationary horizontal axis, an intermediate hinge pivotally connecting the adjacent horizontal edges of said sections tor pivotal movement about a vertically and horizontally traveling axis parallel to that of said upper hinge, said door having a bottom rail secured to the lower edge of said lower section and extending thereacross, said operating means being connected to said bott-om rail at longitudinally spaced positions along its length, roller guide means on said bottom rail zguidingly engaging said side supports for guided vertical movement thereon, said `operating means comprising an actuating means mounted on said top cross member and a cable and pulley system connected to said actuating means and to said bottom rail, said operating means comprising a slide, means mounting said slide fior horizontal sliding movement longitudinally in said top cross member, said cable and pulley system including an actuating cable connected to said actuating means and to said slide -for moving the latter and actuated cables connected each to said slide and t0 said bottom rail for imparting vertical travel to the latter.

2. A folding door construction comprising a door frame including vertical side supports and 1a top cross member secured to the upper ends of said side supports, a door vertically movable `along said side supports, operating means `for causing vertical movement of said door, said door comprising upper and lower sections, an upper hinge pivotally supporting the upper end of said upper section for swinging movement :about a stationary horizontal axis, an intermediate hinge .pivotally connecting the adjacent horizontal edges of said sections for pivotal movement about a vertically and horizontally traveling axis pa-rallel to that of said upper hinge, said door having a bottom rail secured to the lower edge of said lower section and extending thereacross, said operating means being connected to said bottom rail at longitudinally spaced positions along its length, roller guide `means on said bottom rail guidingly engaging said side supports for guided vertical movement thereon, said operating means comprising an actuating means mounted on said top cross member and a cable and pulley system connected to said f actuating means 'and to said bottom rail, said operating means comprising a slide, means mounting said slide for horizontal sliding movement longitudinally in said top cross member, said cableand pulley system includ-ing an actuating cable connected to said actuating means and to said slide for moving the latter and actuated cables connected each to said slide and to said bottom rail for imparting vertical travel to the latter, said actuating means includes a winch mounted in said top cross member, said cable and pulley system being connected to said winch. 3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said slide has a pair of traveling pulleys journalled therein each for rotation about a vertical axis, a pair of idler pulleys mounted for rotation in said lcross member at one end of travel of said slide, said actuating table being reeved through said traveling pulleys and said idler pulleys. 4. The `combination of claim 3 wherein said actuating cable has its end remote from said Iactuated means secured to a stationary anchor.

5. The combination of claim l`4 wherein said actuated cables are each secured to said slide at one end thereof. 6. The combination of claim 5 including sets of idler pulleys journaled in said top cross member, each of said :actuated cables are being reeved through a set of said idler pulleys.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,709,872 Peele A-pr. 23, 1929 2,041,221 Brunst May 19, 1936 2,327,316 Michelman Aug. 17, 1943 2,874,422 Fentiman Feb. 24, 1959 

1. A FOLDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING A DOOR FRAME INCLUDING VERTICAL SIDE SUPPORTS AND A TOP CROSS MEMBER SECURED TO THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID SIDE SUPPORTS, A DOOR VERTICALLY MOVABLE ALONG SAID SIDE SUPPORTS, OPERATING MEANS FOR CAUSING VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID DOOR, SAID DOOR COMPRISING UPPER AND LOWER SECTIONS, AN UPPER HINGE PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING THE UPPER END OF SAID UPPER SECTION FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT A STATIONARY HORIZONTAL AXIS, AN INTERMEDIATE HINGE PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE ADJACENT HORIZONTAL EDGES OF SAID SECTIONS FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ABOUT A VERTICALLY AND HORIZONTALLY TRAVELING AXIS PARALLEL TO THAT OF SAID UPPER HINGE, SAID DOOR HAVING A BOTTOM RAIL SECURED TO THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID LOWER SECTION AND EXTENDING THEREACROSS, SAID OPERATING MEANS BEING CONNECTED TO SAID BOTTOM RAIL AT LONGITUDINALLY SPACED POSITIONS ALONG ITS LENGTH, ROLLER GUIDE MEANS ON SAID BOTTOM RAIL GUIDINGLY ENGAGING SAID SIDE SUPPORTS FOR GUIDED VERTICAL MOVEMENT THEREON, SAID OPERATING MEANS COMPRISING AN ACTUATING MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID TOP CROSS MEMBER AND A CABLE AND PULLEY SYSTEM CONNECTED TO SAID ACTUATING MEANS AND TO SAID BOTTOM RAIL, SAID OPERATING MEANS COMPRISING A SLIDE, MEANS MOUNTING SAID SLIDE FOR HORIZONTAL SLIDING MOVEMENT LONGITUDINALLY IN SAID TOP CROSS MEMBER, SAID CABLE AND PULLEY SYSTEM INCLUDING AN ACTUATING CABLE CONNECTED TO SAID ACTUATING MEANS AND TO SAID SLIDE FOR MOVING THE LATTER AND ACTUATED CABLES CONNECTED EACH TO SAID SLIDE AND TO SAID BOTTOM RAIL FOR IMPARTING VERTICAL TRAVEL TO THE LATTER. 